The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have named their son George Alexander Louis, Kensington Palace has said. The third in line to the throne, who was born on Monday at 16:24 BST, will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

‘Traditional royal name’

The duke and duchess had been expected to pick a traditional royal name for their son, who was born at St Mary’s Hospital in London, weighing 8lbs 6oz. Royal infants usually have historical names which are passed down through the generations.

There have been six King Georges up to now, most recently the Queen’s father, although his first name was Albert and he was known to his family as Bertie. The name Louis is Prince William’s fourth name and is likely to be a tribute to Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh’s uncle and the last British Viceroy of India before independence in 1947.

‘A tribute’

The prince’s other middle name – Alexander – is one that three medieval Scottish kings have had, and was also the name of the famous 4th Century ruler Alexander the Great. The Queen’s middle name is Alexandra.

BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said George will be seen as a tribute to the Queen’s father but the couple are said to genuinely like the name themselves. Alexander was a favourite of Catherine’s, he added. As well as being an established regal name, George is also a saint’s name. St George was an early Christian martyr and is the patron saint of England.

The announcement of the new prince’s name has been relatively quick compared with previous royal babies. It was seven days before the name of a newborn Prince William was announced in 1982, and there was a wait of a month following Prince Charles’s birth in 1948.

Did you guess the Royal Baby’s name correctly? Tell us what you think His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge would be like when he grows up!

An Australian forklift driver who some historians argued was the true heir to the British throne has died in the small New South Wales town he called home, his local newspaper reported Thursday.

Mike Hastings, 71, was a real-life aristocrat, born the 14th earl of Loudoun, who moved to Australia in 1960 in search of adventure. He made international headlines in 2004 when a documentary team from Britain’s Channel Four conducted extensive research into the monarchy and concluded his ancestors were cheated out of the crown in the 15th century.

Hastings, an avowed republican, died on June 30 and was buried Thursday in Jerilderie, about 750 kilometres (465 miles) southwest of Sydney, the local Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser reported. Hastings was a descendant of England’s House of York, whose dynastic struggle with the House of Lancaster became known as the Wars of the Roses and was dramatised by William Shakespeare.

The British documentary’s historian Michael Jones found documents in France’s Rouen Cathedral that he believed showed King Edward IV, who ruled with a brief interruption from 1461 to 1483, was illegitimate. Jones believes that Edward’s father Richard of York was fighting the French at Pontoise when he was conceived, while his mother Cecily was 200 kilometres (125 miles) away at Rouen, allegedly in the amorous arms of an English archer. If true, the crown should have passed on to Edward’s younger brother George, the duke of Clarence, who was a direct ancestor to Hastings.

Hastings showed little interest in pursuing his claim to the monarchy when interviewed by AFP in 2005, citing the intense public scrutiny endured by the royals. However, he joked that his claim to the crown could prove lucrative if confirmed. His son Simon, who now becomes the 15th earl of Loudoun, also appears in no hurry to try to seize the throne.

Do you think Mike Hastings IS the true heir to the UK monarchy? If so, should his son make a rightful claim to it?